11–12 of 12 posts
Death threats for OSS contributions are insane, can anyone shed some light on the backstory here?
Death threats are the new background radiation of the internet. Too many parts of the subculture accept negative hyperbole; people accustom themselves to torrents of abuse as regular communication in a dark corner, then step out and apply that to other situations.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Guessing based on the stuff people have said to and about me (more than I'd wish on anyone, much less than Seth got), it's one part strong feelings, one part callousness and two parts entropy. Feelings run high, callousness prevents even a veneer of politeness or moderation, randomness inflates either the feelings or their expression. The sum can be awful.
Death threats are more than callousness.
What people choose to type, when they go into cloud cuckoo land while still sitting at their keyboards, doesn't seem rational. It seems random. Detached from thought.
You can read it and even while the grammar is fine, the writer doesn't seem to be a sentient, rational human being. Reading it feels like reading static, not human signal. The only explanation I've been able to come up with is that once someone takes the step to write such things, the actual content is largely random.
Perhaps that makes it more scary.